If you have a child playing school sports these days, chances are that the nation's economic downturn has the program scrambling to raise enough money to avoid cutting schedules, travel, coaching staff, even middle school, freshman and JV teams.
More and more, parents and booster clubs are being asked to raise funds to fill the gap. Pay to play has become the order of the day.
But how many more car washes, bake sales, and 50/50 raffles can parents run? Aren't there any some new ways to raise money for a struggling sports program? How about a fundraising program that not only helps raise money but gives kids a big boost of self-confidence? Something they would love to post on their wall?
 Pro sports look before photo |
 Pro sports look after photo |
Enter a new Internet-based company called ProSportsLook. Upload a picture of a magical sports moment (your child hitting a home run, catching a touchdown pass, making a great catch in the outfield, you name it), select one of the cool templates, and PROSPORTSLOOK graphic designers will transform an ordinary image into an extraordinary work of art, turning a young athlete into a larger-than-life, poster-size sports hero.
While an individual parent can purchase products on the site, ProSportsLook has also made fundraising simple for youth leagues, teams, schools and organizations with two programs:
- The PROSPORTSLOOK Give Back Program: An affiliate program which will pay 15 to 20% back to youth organizations for driving sales to the ProSportsLook website using their own unique code. The graphic designers at ProSportsLook will create several custom, designer-quality graphics incorporating the branding/colors/logos of the team, league or school; and
- The PROSPORTSLOOK Endorsement Deal Program: Two or three custom products, (trading cards, calendars, t-shirts, and cereal!) will be created for sale to the organization at wholesale cost for sale by the organization for a profit at retail.
The brainchild of award-winning graphic artist, D.L. Warfield, PROSPORTSLOOK seamlessly combines Warfield's two major passions: graphic design (album covers for Michael Jackson, Usher, graphics for Nike, Sprite, Heineken, Coke, Adidas, artist-in-residence for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics) and sports (a former Division III football and track captain at Washington University in St. Louis and current youth football and baseball coach).
Warfield came up with the idea for PROSPORTSLOOK after end-of-season gifts he created for his 10-year-old son's national championship football team and 13-year-old daughter's softball team created such word-of-mouth buzz that taking the idea to the next level was almost inevitable.
"Young people love cool visuals and they love seeing themselves as bigger-than-life," said Warfield. "For parents, what's more fun than bragging about your kid's sports successes?"
The response so far to PROSPORTSLOOK, Warfield says, has been "100 percent positive." "I've been getting e-mails from moms saying that their kids were totally blown-away ... seeing themselves captured in such a bigger-than-life way."
For more on PROSPORTSLOOK, click here.
Created September 29, 2010
